# What is Operational Technology (OT) Security?

> Operational technology (OT) security protects systems that monitor or control physical processes, devices, and infrastructure.

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## Content

OT includes industrial control systems, building automation, transportation systems, medical and laboratory equipment, and other technologies where digital actions can change the physical world.

OT security must protect confidentiality, integrity, and availability while giving explicit weight to safety, process reliability, environmental impact, and equipment constraints. Controls borrowed from information technology need engineering review: an automatic reboot, aggressive scan, untested patch, or blocked command may create a physical hazard even when it looks sensible from an IT perspective.

### Key points

- **Primary priorities:** Safe operation, process integrity, availability, controlled change, and recoverability.
- **Foundational practices:** Asset and dependency inventory, zones and conduits, secure remote access, monitored boundaries, protected engineering workstations, backups, and tested incident procedures.
- **Operational constraint:** Legacy protocols, long equipment lifecycles, vendor dependencies, certification, and narrow maintenance windows can restrict change.
- **Important limitation:** Isolation is rarely absolute; business systems, vendors, removable media, wireless links, and shared services create pathways that must be identified and governed.

### Related terms

[Industrial control system (ICS)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/industrial-control-system/>) · [Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/supervisory-control-and-data-acquisition/>) · [Network segmentation](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/network-segmentation/>) · [Data diode / unidirectional gateway](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/data-diode-unidirectional-gateway/>) · [IEC 62443](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/iec-62443/>)

### Sources

[NIST SP 800-82r3: Guide to Operational Technology Security](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/82/r3/final) · [IEC: ISA/IEC 62443 series](https://www.iec.ch/blog/understanding-iec-62443)

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